Elliott Bay with Ferries, Long Dark Winter Number 8, November 29, 2013

Another picture from my morning session at Kerry Park in Seattle on Wednesday, this from the same spot as #7 just turning the camera a little to the right to catch Elliott Bay and a couple of ferries coming and going.

Again, this is a series of 5 pictures taken with my Canon 5D Mark III and my new EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS lens (This is a great lens - I have only had it for a week and love it!) @ 78mm, f/6.3, ISO 100, and shutter speeds of 1/20, 1/6, .5, 1.6, and 5.0 seconds. I processed in Lightroom 4 and did the HDR in Photomatix Pro 4.2, blended it all together in Photoshop CS6.

Seattle from Kerry Park, Long Dark Winter #7, November 27, 2013

I was inspired by some photos displayed on the PNW Photographer's Facebook page. I have lived in the Seattle area for close to 23 years and had never been to Kerry Park in Seattle. This is now officially on our visitor's list of places to see. What a view of downtown Seattle! So I had the day off and looked at the weather forecast the night before - the situation looked iffy...

I got up at 5:00am and checked all the web cams and weather sites I could find on my tablet. I have to say, webcams are not helpful as far as discerning the cloud cover. I found one TV station that said it was cloudy and another that stated it was clear. I guess I could have gone outside, but it's cold here. So I got up and decided to give it a try. Once I stepped outside my home the sky was clear - great! So off I went to Seattle. I got there early and set up. By the time I took this picture at 6:49am (sunrise was at 7:30am) there was a little crowd of runners and photographers.

So here is the shot:

It is a series of 5 pictures taken with my Canon 5D Mark III and my new EF 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS lens (love this lens!) @ 70mm, f/6.3, ISO 100, and shutter speeds of 1/6, .4, 1.0, 2.5, and 6 seconds. I processed in Lightroom 4 and did the HDR in Photomatix Pro 4.2, blended it all together in Photoshop CS6.

Don't be a turkey! Long Dark Winter #6, November 24, 2103

Taken at Pike Place Market, Seattle WA.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-70 f/4 L IS, ISO 800, 24mm, f/6.3, 1/60 sec.

Burnoff, Long Dark Winter #5, Sunday November 10, 2013

Driving through the Snoqualmie Valley on Saturday morning. Sunny up the hill at our house, thick fog down in the valley, see #4. The sun was starting to burn through the fog when I got to this farm, this surreal scene was presented. I wanted to get it before the light changed - which it did within a minute or two. So my camera settings were not the best. I should have moved the ISO down to 100. No worries the 5D Mark III did OK.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-70 f/4L IS, 24mm 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 250

Saturday morning fog. Long Dark Winter #4, Saturday November 9, 2013

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-70 f/4L IS, 24mm. 1/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 250

Dark Commute. Long Dark Winter Winter Number 3, Saturday November 2, 2013

With winter we now commute in the dark. Within the week I will be going to and coming from work in the dark. That is the worst part of the long dark winter. Going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.

Multiple exposures... Camera Canon 5D Mark III, EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 90mm. 0.4 sec, f/16, ISO 800

Tangle, Number 2 in the Long Dark Winter Project October 31, 2013

A fallen tree in the forest is the subject for number 2 of the Long Dark Winter Project.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L @ 24mm, iso 1000, f/7.1 for 1/80 sec

Sunrise, Number 1 in the Long Dark Winter Project. October 30, 2013

The first photo in a new project that I am calling the Long Dark Winter. I need it to get back into photography, my cameras have been sitting unused and sad for the last couple of months. Not sure where this will lead but here is my first submission. Unfortunately this first picture was taken with my phone appropriately... That unfortunately is kind of not the idea. I will try to do this as a photo a day type of thing, through the end of January.

Camera: Samsung Galaxy Note II, using HDR mode, processed with Snapseed Android photo editing app.

Washington I-90 Windmills

Lacrosse at Central Park, Sammamish Washington. Taken with HTC One S phone, HDR mode. Minimal processing in PS6.

Graduation Rock, Entiat Washington. August 14, 2011

Canon 1D Mark II, EF 24-70 f/2.8L at 59mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200. We always love to see how the class years change whenever we travel to Lake Chalen. In looking at Google maps I found out that Entiat Jr/Sr High School sits right above the highway looking over to this hill, no wonder the hill is painted with these "class of" insigna.
Lat/Long: 47.66328, -120.2255

San Juan Island, September 3, 2011

West Side Road, San Juan Island WA on Saturday September 3, 2011

Canon 5D, EF 70-200 f/4 L: 1/500 sec at f/5.0, ISO 100, 70mm.
Lat/Long: 48.506521, -123.140535

Scooter in the grass

Testing out my "new" Canon 5D with my EF 50 f/1.4...
Lat/Long: Confidential... :)

Trees along 17th Ave, University of Washington

Canon 1D Mark 2, EF 24-70 f/2.8L @ 1/250sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 27mm... Just testing out my "new" 1D Mark 2 that I had purchased down at Glazers Cameras in Seattle not an hour before this shot was taken. I liked the camera but took it back because the portrait shutter botton did not work properly.
Lat/Long: 47.66389, -122.30937

Blue Angel, August 7, 2011

Canon 7D, EF 70-200 f/4 L @ f/4, ISO 100 1/3200 sec.
Oh how I hate this camera. Let this image count the ways. I have had the 7D for about 2 weeks now and it really disappoints me. Images are just terrible with all kinds of noise, even at ISO 100. I had to create a layer and blur the sky on this shot because the noise was so bad.
It was nice to see the Blue Angels, walked out on the I-90 bridge to watch. Fun... Lat/Long: 47.5897, -122.2554

Update 11/25/13: For comparison here is the original shot... Maybe I darkened the shot above too much but what set me off was the low quality of the sky. I really thought it looked like a bunch of pebbles. And I was experienced in taking sky shots. With my 20D I was an obsessive sensor cleaner, so I was always taking shots of the blue sky to check for sensor dust. Thankfully I have gotten over that. I don't remember the last time I cleaned my sensor and have not noticed it. Shortly after this set of shots, I sold the 7D and purchased a used 1D MkIIn and a used 5D. The IQ was so much better on those cameras than with the 7D. It was not even close. And those 2 cameras cost me a little more than what I got for the 7D. For a nice sky, see this shot from the 5D I purchased here...